Eight questions for the interested and interesting: Luiza Cachalia

We’ve long been fans of Luiza Cachalia’s art. Her paintings are a commentary on the zeitgeist, women, power and pop culture. They are at once beguiling, familiar and otherworldly. Her most recent works, shown with SMAC Gallery at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair, were further proof.

That said, the Cape Town creative’s thoughtful, funny answers to our weekly eight questions have made us like her even more. Have a read!

What’s the best book you’ve read in the past year? And why?

The first is Essentialism by Greg McKeown. This book has been really influential. I’m the kind of person who is always trying to prove myself to myself by doing as much as I can, by doing too much, by creating lists of tasks and trying to tick off as much as possible. I always thought that a sign of success was owning a lot, as many possessions as possible.

This book got through an incredibly powerful message to me: choose essential few over trivial many. It has changed the way I approach life, my idea of efficiency, my idea of value and my idea of worth.

It has also changed the way I paint. It made me think about rendering things down to their bare bones, about removing what is decorative or unnecessary and asking what is essential in an image. What is the core emotional truth? What actually needs to be there? In that sense, it has influenced both my life and my art.

The next book is Dog Songs by Mary Oliver. I had to put my beloved best friend and soulmate down on December 31 last year. His name was Leo. I bought this book, and the poems capture feelings I’ve had about him. They’ve also got little illustrations of other dogs in it. They hold sweet, bitter memories.

Whenever I think of him, I go to this title and read about him, and he comes alive in it. It’s a book I will always keep near me. It’s like a memento of a dog’s spirit, of Leo’s spirit.

How do you keep fit?

First, I would never describe myself as someone who is fit. I would say I’m skinny fat.

I emotionally regulate through walking. I go for a walk every afternoon around Rosebank in Cape Town. I can be seen lurking and wandering outside people’s homes, peeping in. I love stroking trees and picking foliage. For me, breathing and taking in the gentleness of the surroundings is a way to calm down after the day. It’s not so much about keeping fit as reconnecting with myself.

Sometimes I manage to go to Newlands Forest and do something a little more strenuous, which I love because I’m around more lush trees. I really like hiking when I get the chance.

Week-night, lowkey restaurant go to?

There’s a little sushi place in Obs called 1890, where you get incredible fresh sushi. It’s tiny, a hole in the wall. I think everyone in the area knows it.

The sushi is always of an incredibly high standard. They’re friendly, it’s quick, and it’s comfy. You can go in a tracksuit or your pyjamas and it just feels like home. It’s always dark with soft lighting, which I really appreciate. In my mind it has a romantic, New York grungy feel.

What is the one artwork you’ll always love, and why?

I feel very lucky to have an artwork that I will always love. It has travelled with me wherever I go. I bought it when I was in university from a student above me, Rebecca Haysom, who is an incredible artist.

It’s an ink drawing on paper of a mother with a mask on, holding a baby. For me, it captures the emotion of the mother-child bond, but also the complexity and distance. It reflects the tension in my own relationship with my mother, the barrier between mother and child, and the connection. It’s a very poignant piece.

The delicacy of the ink on paper works beautifully with the subject matter. It was once stabbed by someone I lived with, so it really endures. Wherever I am, it is.

Haysom is an incredible artist. She is very quiet and doesn’t exhibit or project herself into exhibiting, but I have always loved and cherished the work.

Do you have a hobby?

Yes. I love gardening. I find it very relaxing. I have been planting crops of dahlias. I love dahlias of all sorts and delphiniums.

Planting seeds that I collect from my wanderings and walks, and seeing them come alive, gives me great joy. It makes me feel like I have some kind of power in this world where one really doesn’t seem to have much power.

Seeing the colours come alive and the plants grow and intertwine feels like touching magic. There is some sorcery at work, and it makes me feel like a white witch. I have a tiny patch of earth that I spend a lot of time tinkering away at, and I feel very blessed to be able to do that.

The one unusual item you can’t live without?

That’s definitely my new puppy, George. He’s a staffie. He’s a baby shark right now. He wants to bite everything, but he is also a fat little love bomb that just licks and kisses.

I’m getting to know him and getting to love him. He’s maybe not unusual because everyone loves their dog children, but I couldn’t live without him. Anyone who has ever had a dog knows that life without them is barren and sad.

He’s my reason for waking up. He’s my reason for coming home to the house. He’s the reason for everything I do. My painting changed when he arrived. He brings joy and purpose to my life.

Who was your high school celeb crush?

A friend of mine had a sleepover where we created high school celebrity crush boards. We cut up pictures from magazines and stuck them down. I actually feel like this was a curse we all created for ourselves.

Mine had pictures of Jude Law, Ben Affleck and Brad Pitt. I wrote things like “bad boy”, “good looking” and “arrogant” on the poster. That probably encapsulates my high school celebrity crush perfectly.

It may have jinxed me in terms of the men I’ve been attracted to. I’m working hard not to be attracted to that type anymore.

Three songs that you’d take to a desert island?

Swan Lake. I often paint to it and it gives me such peace. Common People by Pulp. It’s great to dance to, great to sing to. It’s always been a brilliant car song. Joan Jett, Have You Ever Seen the Rain? It’s simple and it touches my soul.

ALSO READ:

_{Top image: supplied.}

Sign up to Currency’s weekly newsletters to receive your own bulletin of weekday news and weekend treats. Register here.